Tank-cleaner.



NO- 787,266. PATBNTED APR.11. 1905. J. W. B1V1Ns.

TANK CLEANER.

APPLICATION FILED 00T. 25.1904. '1" 0;*

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET l. ri. "i

BVM

ATTRNEYS PATENTED APR. ll, 1905.

J. W. BIVINS.

TANK CLEANER.

APPLICATION FILED 00T. 25,1904.

2 SHEBTSLSHEET 2.

ATTORNEYS UNTTnn STATES Patented April 11, 1905.

PATENT @Trace JAIES lVlLLlAhl' BIX/INS, OF TOPEKA, KANSAS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 787,266, dated April11, 1905.

Application filed October 25,19Q4. Serial No. 229,990.

.To 1/7/ Ich/1m. if Yntf/.y colmar/z.:

le it known that l, Janus WILLIAM ll'ivixs, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at 'lopeka, in the county of Shawnee and State ofKansas, have made certain new and useful lmproveinents inrYank-Cleaners,of which the `following is a specification.

lYater cisterns ortanks of large dimensions which are in common use forstorage and supply purposes require to be cleaned more or lessfrequently. This operation requires that the tanks must first beemptied, and then the labor of two to live men is utilized from one tothree days. after which the tanks are refilled. '.lhere is hence a quitelarge expense involved in labor, time, and loss of water.

l have devised and applied a simple apparatus by which tanks may becleaned quickly and with little labor and loss of but a small quantityof water.

My invention includes improved means Vfor etfectingthe niec'nanicallooseningof the sediment and Yfor washing out the saine or dischargingit from the tank, likewise an attachment for the top of a tank whichserves as a support Yfor the shaft of the rotary plow or scraper bywhich the sediment is loosened and also for the workman who operatessuch scrapers.

The invention is embodied in the construction` arrangement, andcombination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, the same beingillustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is acentrallongitudinalsection of y a tank provided with my improved cleaning' Fig.2 is a plan view of the tank Fig. 3 is a horizontal section Fig. i isaface view apparatus. and apparatus. on the line l fjof Fig. l.

of the plows or scrapers constituting part of the means formechanicallyloosening sediment in the tank.

A indicates the cylindrical body of a tank or cistern. and B a cementbottom tlierefoi', the same having a concave surface.

center of the concavity is located a hollowcrowned sediment-receiver C,from which a discharge or sludge pipe D leads out of the tank, the samebeing provided exteriorly with In the a stop-eockd. The receptacle C isprovided with a series of inlet tubes or pipes c, (sec Figs. 2 and 3,)the same being arranged radially and parallel to the concave bottom ofthe tank. 'lhe discharge-pipe l) is arranged horizontal and connectedwith a depressed portion of the floor or `bottom of thesediment-receiver C,

the same constituting a pocket c, in which l the sediment accumulatesafter entering the receiver proper. 'lhis(.:onstruction facilitatescollection of the sediment and entrance of the saine into thedischarge-pipe l).

The means for mechanically loosening the sediment consists of plows orscrapers E, which are connected by rigid rods .F with a central verticalrotary shaft (1, the attachnient being' such that all the said partsrotate together. The shaft is stepped at r/ in a socket provided in thetop of the crown of the sediment-receiver C, and its upper end has itsbearings in an attachment applied to the upper end of the tank. The saidattachment consists of bars H, which cross each other at right anglesand whose ends are bent upward and constructed as hooks I., adapted toengage and rest upon the top of tlietank. The portion of the bars lladjacent to the hooks is horizontal, and a circular plate I is laidthereon and serves in practice as a track upon which the workman whooperates the mechanical sedimcnt-remover may travel. The parts ll and lare in practice rigidly connected. so that they constitute practicallyan integral device which may be easily applied and removed from thetank, as conditions require. The end of the shaft (V, which pro- 1 jectsa short distance above the attachment H I, is provided with a lateralarm l//,\vhieh serves as a lever Vfor rotating thc shaft and theattached scrapers. As shown best in Fig. 4, the Scrapers consist ofmetal plates curved substantially in the manner of a plow moldboard,their outer ends being adapted to work in contact with the surface ofthe cement bottom B. "lhe scrapers Vl attach to a bar c. which is inturn connected with a joint-piccef, to which the carrying arms or bracesF are seciiied. The said arms are in turn rigidly atl tachcd to blocksf,which are applied to the shaft G and clamped thereon by screws f2, sothat they may be adjusted vertically as conditions require in order toenable the scrapers E to work in the required close contact with theconcave cement bottom B. The several parts e, f, F, and f are detachablysecured, so that the apparatus may be dismembered and shipped andtransported in compact form.

Near the bottom of the tank A is arranged a Water-inlet pipe J, whichpasses through the side of the tank and is arranged with its dischargeend or nozzle in proximity to and slightly above the crown of thesediment-receiver C. This pipe is provided with a stopcock, as shown. Y

My improved apparatus is operated as follows: rlhe sediment-receiverwith its rigid attachments constitute a permanent portion or attachmentof the tank, it and the dischargepipe D being laid in the cement bottomwhen the same is laid and formed in the cylinder. The attachment of therotary mechanical cleaner and the parts H I may be easily cffected andin an obvious manner. A workman traveling upon the circular track I andapplying lateral pressure to thelever g rotates the shaft, and with itthe Scrapers, in one direction or the other, as'conditions require,whereby the sediment which has collected upon the outer portion of theconcave cement bottom is loosened, as will be readily Linderstood. Thestop-cock Z being' then opened, the great pressure of the water withinthe tank will drive the greater portion thereof into the inlet-pipes c,and thus into the receptacle C, whence it will be discharged by the pipeD. When conditions require, a stream of water is admitted by the pipe Jfor washing' the crown or exterior of the sediment-receiver C and alsofor removing sediment that may accumulate between the radial inlet-pipesc. It is apparent that the said pipe J will prevent complet-e rotationof the Scrapers, so that they are rotated first in one direction andthen thc other, so the arrangement of the two Scrapers projecting inopposite directions adapts them to work over the entire surface of thetank-bottom, which is exterior to the inlet-pipe c. By this meanssediment may be effectively removed from the tank in a very short timeand with the loss of but a small portion of water.

In practice a tank sixty feet in height and thirty feet in diameter maybe clean ed in from thirty to sixty minutes with the labor of one manwithout requiring the tank to be emptied and with the loss of but asmall percentage of the water contained in it.

Havingthus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with the tank, having adepressed bottom, of cleaningapparatus consisting of a sediment-receiver located at the lowest pointin said bottom, a vertical rotary shaft stepped on said receiver, meansfor supporting the shaft vertically, a lateral arm secured to the shaft,and a scraper attached to and pendent from said arm and arranged tosweep over a portion of the tank-bottom intervening the side wall of thetank and said receiver, as shown and described.

2. The tank havinga concave bottom, a sediment-receiver located in thecenter of the bottom and consisting of a chamber having a series ofradial pipes extended over and parallel to the concave bottom, adischarge-pipe connected with the base of the receiver, and a scrapingattachment comprising a vertical shaft stepped in said receiver, anupper bearing for the shaft which is attached to thetop of the tank, anda scraper attachment comprising a lateral arm secured to the shaft and apendent arm connected therewith and a scraper secured to said pendentarm and adapted to work on the tank-bottom exterior to the said radialpipes, substantially as described. u

3. The combination,with the tank, a rotary shaft provided with a laterallever-arm, and scrapers adapted to work on the bottom of the tank, of ashaft-support and staging comprising a central part in which the shaftis journaled, means for supporting the same upon the rim of the tank,and the circular track arranged adjacent to the tank-rim, substantiallyas described.

4. The combination, with the tank, of a chambered sediment-receiverhaving a closed top located in the center of the bottom thereof andprovided with a series of lateral openings and a series of inlet-pipesextending' radially, a water-inlet pipe extending through the side ofthe tank, its nozzle being arranged over and contiguous to the saidsediment-receiver, and a lateral discharge-pipe connected with thesediment receiver, substantially as described.

JAMES WILLIAM BIVINS.

Vitnesses:

CHARLIE R. BRATTON, JOHN S. WEIR.

IOO

